2024 set to break 2,000-year heat Record: due to Human-induced climate change

A study published in Nature reveals that the summer of 2023 was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in over two thousand years, with scientists predicting that 2024 could be even warmer.

This alarming trend is attributed to human-induced climate change and the effects of the El Niño weather pattern. Researchers utilized modern temperature records and climate reconstructions, finding that 2023's summer temperatures were more than half a degree Celsius higher than the previous record set in the year 246, and nearly 4°C warmer than the coldest summer in 536.

The study focused on land areas between the 30th parallel north and the North Pole, analyzing tree rings from nine regions in the Northern Hemisphere to reconstruct historical climate data for the summer months.

It was observed that cooler periods historically followed major volcanic eruptions, while warmer phases were often linked to El Niño events. The current El Niño, which started in June 2023, has been intensified by global warming, resulting in more frequent and severe heatwaves.

Lead author Jan Esper from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz emphasized that the combined effects of El Niño and greenhouse gas emissions are expected to prolong and intensify heatwaves and droughts.

The findings highlight the urgent need to address climate change, as the Northern Hemisphere surpasses the 1.5°C warming limit set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. This unprecedented warming raises concerns that 2024 may set new temperature records, following recent extreme heat events such as the record 48.2°C in Myanmar.